There were three explosions last night in Tirana, considered terrorist acts.  The first was at a pharmacy owned by the father of the Interior Minister.  The second was at the home of the former Chief of Police, currently Director of Serious Crimes in Korca, which is a town southeast of Tirana.  The third was a controlled detonation of dynamite placed at a bus station near a school.

There are a lot of interesting people coming and going at this hotel.  Some might be businessmen but many seem to be government types.  Often cars with flags on the front fenders pull up to drop off or pick up men and women who give the appearance of being important with serious business to attend to.  In the lobby there are usually two or more stern looking men in suits and overcoats, some with earpieces.  Opposite the elevators is a wall with large photos of dignitaries who have visited the hotel, including Tony Blair and Hillary Clinton.

There are many forlorn stray dogs on the streets of Tirana. Sidewalks on most streets are either in disrepair or nonexistent so it is necessary to walk in the street.  I found a market near the hotel.  Most products are less expensive than in other countries, except toilet paper, which costs 430 leks for 4 rolls, almost $5. Naturally that’s something I found interesting in my scatological way.

It is sunny today and feels warmer than 43 degrees.  I came back to the hotel to change my shoes.  My Uggs are too warm and definitely not good for walking any distance.

We rode the hop-on, hop-off bus around Rome much of  the day on Sunday until we were too cold to care any more.  We did hop off several times.  I bought some great, warm boots somewhere between the Spanish Steps and

My new, warm boots.                 the bone dry Fountain of Trevi.  We had lunch again at the ristorante Baccano, another place of good food and wine.  By 4:00 we were so cold that we went back to our hotel, picked up our bags and headed for the airport.  We killed time by shopping in the duty free shops and dinner.  Our plane left late and it was after midnight when we got to our hotel.  It took another two hours before we were ready to go to sleep.  Julie was up at the crack of dawn and off to work.  I have spent the day in a leisurely fashion, recovering from over 18,000 steps I walked yesterday, most of which were in my new boots.

Since I had already walked ten thousand steps, we took a cab to the Trevi Fountain.  It was being cleaned and no water was in it.  They’d put a ramp up so we could walk over it and see the sculptures up close.  Then we had delicious chicken Caesar salads at a terrific restaurant near by.  No wine.  I”m saving it for tonight at Otello alla Concordia.  However, I may drink less tonight because I kept Julie awake all night with my snoring and honking and wheezing.  I slept very well, which is all that really matters.

We arrived at our hotel near the Vatican at around 9:00 p.m.  Went around the corner and found a great restaurant where we ate pasta and I drank 1/2 liter of the house red.  For dessert I had chocolate ice cream, which was almost too chocolate.  Julie had creme brulee, which she wasn’t crazy about.  This morning we had the worst coffee in the world at the hotel.  Then we walked to the Vatican and waited in line for St. Peter’s.  After that we stopped in a little shop and had a great cup of cappuccino.  Then on to the Sistine chapel.  It was spectacular with the vivid colors..  My Fitbit buzzed there.  My third day in a row of walking 10,000+ steps.